I have a question for Vettel's fans. Do you think Vettel wishes to join Ferrari after 2014?...

We do not have insight of his mind, doubtfully very few would really know, including Seb himself. I bet while he is not dismissing possibility of future association, at the moment there is nothing concrete on the table for him to consider. I would not be surprise to learn, that most of them, if not all, would not mind to drive for such prestigious team, such as Ferrari is. One cannot dismiss possibility that at one point Sebastian might want a change in his life, especially if he gets one more WDC with RB. It is state of mind I cannot say that I know for obvious reasons not having WDC on my CV, but I do understand desire to try something else, and accept a new challenges. It is conceivable that at some point Seb will ask himself - can I get WDC without RBR team? There are technical changes coming in 2014, Mercedes will fix the car and shall move up, yet I do not expect much more progress from Ferrari and McLaren, as they had already top stuff of everything for a long time already, and results..? Lotus is a dark horse, but I do not expect others to rise, thus if Seb will want a change, Mercedes, Ferrari and Lotus might be a group he will be thinking about.

I have a question for Vettel's fans. Do you think Vettel wishes to join Ferrari after 2014? I constantly get this impression from him when he talks about his relationship with Red Bull. Like, "I'm happy at RB, I have a contract until the end of 2014, there's nothing more to say, etc." He never says stuff like "I want to stay with RB until the end of my career," which seems to be the logical thing to say, considering that RB is a winning team. And again, he didn't extend his contract with RB after winning 3rd WDC, which was almost expected. Another thing I've noticed is how shifty-eyed he looked when he denied that he has any kind of agreement with Ferrari. Even after the whole flaggate thing, Vettel hasn't said anything bad about Ferrari. I think it's a bit strange, because Ferrari(okay, Alonso) kinda deserved it.

As a Ferrari fan, I would like Vettel to replace "the samurai," and the sooner, the better. My first choice for Ferrari would have been Hamilton, but since it's not likely, Vettel it is. To tell the truth, Vettel annoys me with his finger thing, but you have to be blind not to notice that the kid is getting better with every year and he's just 25.

1) I hope he doesnt, god willing, get it into a position where he has to drive for Ferrari.2) I think Hamilton once said that he wanted to spend the whole of his career as a Mclaren driver. And look what happened.3) Alonso once said something along the lines of 'as long as its not red'. And look what happened.

Vettel has long said he wants to drive for Ferrari. I have to imagine he will go there eventually if both sides want it. I'll be cheering him on whereever he goes. Nonetheless, that is all of two seasons away, and for now, he and the Bull fit like a glove.

I imagine Vettel would want to end his career at Ferrari, so I reckon he would first venture out to Lotus or Mercedes. Much as he loves Red Bull, I think he is someone that like Schumi, would not be opposed to a new challenge.

Food for thought:Before 2012 the teammate of a eventual "Newey champion", finished the season in: 1992 as 2nd 1993 as 3rd1996 as 2nd1997 as 2nd (3rd if we neglect MSC´s disqualification)1998 as 3rd 1999 as 4th2010 as 3rd2011 as 3rd

Even if a "newey powered" driver was in the title hunt, but had eventually to settle for 2nd place, his teammate became usually 3rd or 4th* the same year - except for Coulthards 7th place in 2003. *i also included Mansell´s and Coulthard´s combined results of 94 as a 4th place

So Webber´s 6th place is actually the 2nd worst WDC-position of all teammates* next to a WDC or runner up in a Newey car.*The other teammates are Patrese, Hill, Mansell/DC (alternating), DC (5x), Villeneuve, Frentzen, Montoya, Webber himself (2x)

So what do yout think: Was Vettel´s WDC the hardest a Newey driver ever achieved? Or did Webber deliver the worst ever season of all No. 2 drivers next to "Newey champions"?

Webber had a good season until Germany, where it tailed off.
It was a combination of bad luck (Gearboxes, bad strategy in Singapore and being punted off twice) and some anonymous races like Hungary and especially Spa, Monza which lead to such a gap.
His qualifying was the best its been in 4 years, losing only 11-9
It became clear that, briliant on his day, Webber struggles to put 20 races together, which the top guys can. A few years ago, Webber would be a half decent bet for a title, but not in todays climate, with the talent in there now.

Shouldn't take anything away from Vettels achievement though. Alonso, Kimi, Vettel all scored roughly 60-70% of their teams totals. Hamilton would've done the same but for bad luck. Those 4 guys were a cut above this year

Food for thought:Before 2012 the teammate of a eventual "Newey champion", finished the season in: 1992 as 2nd 1993 as 3rd1996 as 2nd1997 as 2nd (3rd if we neglect MSC´s disqualification)1998 as 3rd 1999 as 4th2010 as 3rd2011 as 3rd

Even if a "newey powered" driver was in the title hunt, but had eventually to settle for 2nd place, his teammate became usually 3rd or 4th* the same year - except for Coulthards 7th place in 2003. *i also included Mansell´s and Coulthard´s combined results of 94 as a 4th place

So Webber´s 6th place is actually the 2nd worst WDC-position of all teammates* next to a WDC or runner up in a Newey car.*The other teammates are Patrese, Hill, Mansell/DC (alternating), DC (5x), Villeneuve, Frentzen, Montoya, Webber himself (2x)

So what do yout think: Was Vettel´s WDC the hardest a Newey driver ever achieved? Or did Webber deliver the worst ever season of all No. 2 drivers next to "Newey champions"?

It obviously was the hardest championship achieved in a 'Newey car'.

PS: btw nice work. Some interesting stats in there. Just goes to show what a mega season Kimi put in, in 2003. Had he won that year, that title would have rivalled, and even shaded, Seb's 2012 crown for the 'hardest title achieved in a Newey car'.

Food for thought:Before 2012 the teammate of a eventual "Newey champion", finished the season in: 1992 as 2nd 1993 as 3rd1996 as 2nd1997 as 2nd (3rd if we neglect MSC´s disqualification)1998 as 3rd 1999 as 4th2010 as 3rd2011 as 3rd

Even if a "newey powered" driver was in the title hunt, but had eventually to settle for 2nd place, his teammate became usually 3rd or 4th* the same year - except for Coulthards 7th place in 2003. *i also included Mansell´s and Coulthard´s combined results of 94 as a 4th place

So Webber´s 6th place is actually the 2nd worst WDC-position of all teammates* next to a WDC or runner up in a Newey car.*The other teammates are Patrese, Hill, Mansell/DC (alternating), DC (5x), Villeneuve, Frentzen, Montoya, Webber himself (2x)

So what do yout think: Was Vettel´s WDC the hardest a Newey driver ever achieved? Or did Webber deliver the worst ever season of all No. 2 drivers next to "Newey champions"?

The regulations have brought the grid a lot closer together than in previous years, and there's arguably more talent at the top than any time in the past. The combination of the two factors means that you don't have to underperform by much to find yourself much further down the championship table than in previous years.

The regulations have brought the grid a lot closer together than in previous years, and there's arguably more talent at the top than any time in the past. The combination of the two factors means that you don't have to underperform by much to find yourself much further down the championship table than in previous years.

So the fact Vettel comes out on top 3 years straight, must count for something

PS: btw nice work. Some interesting stats in there. Just goes to show what a mega season Kimi put in, in 2003. Had he won that year, that title would have rivalled, and even shaded, Seb's 2012 crown for the 'hardest title achieved in a Newey car'.

I would have to agree, given that the Kimster would've won it against none other than an on-form Michael Schumacher himself.

But if you have anything to add to that, we'd best take it to the Kimi thread.

"There will be a mouth-watering battle between the world’s best racers on four wheels and two as 2012 Formula 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel goes up against 2012 MotoGP world champion Jorge Lorenzo and 500cc MotoGP legend Mick Doohan."

Seb is certainly projecting himself as a young unorthodox rebel in his public appearances. First of all I didn’t know that he owns a tie of any kind, and now he travels long distance only to lose passport and shows up unshaven. Thanks lord that I don’t see any earing (yet, that is). Carry on buddy, I say.

"I know not everyone is happy with it (constant helmet change)," ... "Nowadays drivers don’t have too many chances to show their personality. The helmet gives them the chance to be free and show their character."

"His first helmet was in karts, completely different to how it is today. He was eight years old and he wanted the crab from ‘The Little Mermaid’ on it, which was called Sebastian too. When he began as test-driver in Formula One, he came back to me and asked what I could do." (How cute it is! )

"Singapore took a long time. We had to work out what LEDs to use, what battery to use. I was worried it might interfere with the radio. I was hoping the battery would last, it’s a long race, nearly two hours. It was amazing when he won the race, he was greeting the fans and the helmet was still flashing. It was a big relief, I was really happy!"

# My Chat with Jens by the interviewer : His favorites, detailed story behind Singapore LEDs helmet, Silverstone helmet - which was designed by Seb's crew and Monaco one, the process of how he works with Seb and so on.http://www.reddit.co...ind_the_scenes/

"The Austin helmet was very special but it looked terrible in the car. The idea was nice and on our Facebook account it was one of the most liked. People said how fun and original it was. It’s important for me once a helmet is finished what people think of it. ..."

Does Vettel has any plan to stick with one design? Vettel retires his helmet each time he wins a race. "The helmet is like a trophy for him. Last year he won so many races, I was counting down, and realised after the race he had no more helmets for the year, so we had to make some new ones really fast! Last year we did 16 helmets, this year 13."

# One more (from F1F) : The crab thing was pretty funny. Jens actually designed this helmet for Seb when he was 8 as word around Germany was that he was going to be the next Michael Schumacher. Looks like they were right…

Out of this podcast, and new one for me: Class of F1 - Alonso, Kimi, and Button (in no particular order). Vettel is quite close, but not right up there. Hamilton is lost. What I get out of this is that everyone has an opinion about new world order. As it stands however, Vettle is collecting trophies which the others just dreaming about; but, there is always next time! Rhetoric will intensify no doubt about that.

Precisely. It doesn't matter where we rank the drivers - they all must do their talking on the track. I like Seb's focus on that when everyone tries to distract him with talk about other drivers being better, Newey cars, Ferrari drives, the finger, energy drinks, fits of temper, his teammate, and so on... He just puts his head down and races hard. Ya gotta love it

"His first helmet was in karts, completely different to how it is today. He was eight years old and he wanted the crab from ‘The Little Mermaid’ on it, which was called Sebastian too. When he began as test-driver in Formula One, he came back to me and asked what I could do."

"It's going to be hard to beat Sebastian next year," Hamilton said. "I think Sebastian's going to have another amazing car.

"The car he had this year was fantastic. It's going to be an evolution of that next year. Adrian only seems to get better with age; I think he's going to do something pretty special next year as well."

Hamiltons car comments are at the least very odd. His "4 apex" comment was backed by nothing (neither did Vettel miss 4 apexes nor could he afford it - McLaren was the fastest in Q right after he made that comment), the "luckiest driver" statement was also wrong when you analyse Abu Dhabi in more detail and generally McLaren do produce good or even amazing cars as well, so all the Newey praise while certainly deserved is blown a bit out of proportion. It's quite clear that Alonso and Hamiton consider Vettel as inferior, but why do they need to speak about it that often? (I don't think you can only blame the journalists.)

I think it has become more and more obvious that they have a hard time to live with such a level success by another driver. Who would have said after 2006 that Alonso would still be 'just' a double WDC in 2012? Who would have argued in a similar way about Lewis in 2008?

It is certainly ironic in light of his statement that he went from the fastest car on the grid to Mercedes which clearly struggled a lot. We will see how competitive that car will be.

Hamiltons car comments are at the least very odd. His "4 apex" comment was backed by nothing (neither did Vettel miss 4 apexes nor could he afford it - McLaren was the fastest in Q right after he made that comment), the "luckiest driver" statement was also wrong when you analyse Abu Dhabi in more detail and generally McLaren do produce good or even amazing cars as well, so all the Newey praise while certainly deserved is blown a bit out of proportion. It's quite clear that Alonso and Hamiton consider Vettel as inferior, but why do they need to speak about it that often? (I don't think you can only blame the journalists.)

Its especially disingenuous because his car was the fastest this season - whatever the other issues going on. So he is not being completely honest here.

Hamiltons car comments are at the least very odd. His "4 apex" comment was backed by nothing (neither did Vettel miss 4 apexes nor could he afford it - McLaren was the fastest in Q right after he made that comment), the "luckiest driver" statement was also wrong when you analyse Abu Dhabi in more detail and generally McLaren do produce good or even amazing cars as well, so all the Newey praise while certainly deserved is blown a bit out of proportion. It's quite clear that Alonso and Hamiton consider Vettel as inferior, but why do they need to speak about it that often? (I don't think you can only blame the journalists.)

Vettel is the benchmark for other drivers, and a target. Not everyone is playing clean, especially when they need to explain why they haven't accomplished the same as he did.

Not sure why Alonso and Hamilton constantly feel the need to make such comments about Vettel.

Because they are getting more and more insecure? And it's a normal human reaction.

I wrote this before, this kind of situation doesn't happen that often. I mean, the top dog is always envied but even if for example people, drivers and fans alike, hated Schumacher winning, we all accept that his era was the "Schumacher era". On the other hand, this was not supposed to be the case with Vettel. This was supposed to be the Alonso/Hamilton era. Vettel winning is ruining that and it's pissing people off:)

Because they are getting more and more insecure? And it's a normal human reaction.

I wrote this before, this kind of situation doesn't happen that often. I mean, the top dog is always envied but even if for example people, drivers and fans alike, hated Schumacher winning, we all accept that his era was the "Schumacher era". On the other hand, this was not supposed to be the case with Vettel. This was supposed to be the Alonso/Hamilton era. Vettel winning is ruining that and it's pissing people off:)

Its understandable human psyche but the biggest problem I have with Lewis s latest comments is that he himself was sitting in the car which was capable of beating the Newey rocket just 2 weeks ago. So I dont understand

Alonso - I would understand . Whether I would agree with him is a different matter but atleast Alonso whining and pining for Newey would make some sense. Not Hamilton - maybe he is taking into account his next years drive and comparing it to Newey

Thers a video now on youtube of the whole Brazil GP from onboard (not all from Seb but a lot, including a big part of his ride back through the field in the first couple laps).
It's fascinating to watch. It looks like he's passing the other cars like in a video game. Completely on the edge. Often looks like he's close to losing the car. Awesome reflexes when it starts to get slippery. On a side note: Hulkenbergs onboards are also very impressive. The FI didnt look like it was easy to drive at all. Tremendous job. Too bad about the Hamilton crash.

Thers a video now on youtube of the whole Brazil GP from onboard (not all from Seb but a lot, including a big part of his ride back through the field in the first couple laps).It's fascinating to watch. It looks like he's passing the other cars like in a video game. Completely on the edge. Often looks like he's close to losing the car.

Also shows how hard is to pass with that car.

It´s painfull to see no-KERS cars pulling away from the RB with a perfect slipstream in the main straight. If they lost their edge in qualifying they´ll have to change their approach, that car is a pain to drive in the middle of a group, you exit the corner in a perfect slipstream and by the end of the straight, instead of putting pressure on the guy in front you end up UNDER pressure. I wonder how much is the engine and how much the setup or even the exhausts, because Lotus cars have had that problem too.

BTW the top 10 drivers selected by the team principals over the arc of the last 5 years. Counted just full seasons. The factor to adjust the 09 and 08 results was 2.6 (rounded from 2.589) as it was the value closest to get a similar amount of points from both point systems. If you use 2.5 it doesn't change much.